Exerting Oneself During the Last Ten Days of Ramadhan

An important reminder taken from the respected Shaykh Salih
al-Fawzana's book Ahadith as-Siyam: Ahkam wa Adabâ

Aisha (RA) said: "When the last ten days (of Ramadhan) would come,
the Prophet (SAW) would spend his night in worship, wake his family (at
night), exert himself and tighten his Izaar (waistcloth)."

This hadith is proof that the last ten days of Ramadhan have a special
virtue over any other (set of days), in which one should increase in
obedience and acts of worship, such as prayer, making dhikr (remembrance)
and reciting the Qur'an.

Aisha RA has described our Prophet and role model, Muhammad (SAW),
with four attributes:

1. He (SAW) would "spend his night in worship", meaning he would not
sleep during it. He (SAW) would spend all of it in the state of qiyam
(night prayer) and performing acts of worship that are done for the sake
of Allah, Lord of the worlds.

2. He (SAW) would "wake up his family" meaning his (SAW) pure wives,
the Mothers of the Believers, so that they may take part in the profiting
of good, the dhikr (remembrance) and the acts of worship during these
blessed times.

3. He (SAW) would "exert himself", meaning he (SAW) would persevere and
struggle in worship, adding more to his deeds than what he had done in
the first twenty days (of Ramadhan). He only did this because the
night of Al-Qadr occurs during one of these (last ten) days.

4. He (SAW) would "tighten his Izaar (waistcloth)" meaning he would
exert himself and struggle intensely in worship. It is also said that it
means he (SAW) would withdraw from women. This seems to be more correct
since it inclines with what was mentioned previously and with the
hadeeth of Anas (RA) : "He (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) would rollup his
bed and withdraw from women (i.e. his wives)."

Also, he (SAW) would observe 'Itikaaf in the last ten days of Ramadhan
and the person who is in the state of 'Itikaaf is restricted from
interacting (sexually) with women.

So, O Muslim, strive to characterize yourself with these attributes.
And guard the prayer you make in the depths of the night (tahajjud) with
the Imam in addition to the Tarawih prayer (which is prayed in the
early parts of the night), so that your exertion in these last ten days may
go beyond that of the first twenty. And so that you may achieve the
attribute of "spending the night in worship" by praying.

And you must be patient in your obedience to Allah, for indeed, the
tahajjud (night) prayer is difficult, but its reward is great. By Allah,
it is a great opportunity in ones life and a profitable thing to take
advantage of, for the one whom Allah grants it to. And a person does not
know if perhaps he will encounter one of Allah's many rewards during
the night prayer, thus serving as assistance for him in this world and in
the Hereafter.

The righteous predecessors of this ummah would lengthen the prayer at
night, exerting themselves. As-Saa'ib Ibn Yazeed said: "'Umar Ibn
Al-Khattaab ordered Ubay Bin Ka'ab and Tameem Ad-Daree to lead the people in
prayer with eleven raka'at. The reciter would recite one hundred
verses, to the point that we had to lean upon wooden staffs due to the long
standing. And we would not stop until the early parts of Fajr."

'Abdullah Ibn Abi Bakr reported: "I heard my father (i.e. Abu Bakr)
say: 'During Ramadhan, we would finish (the night prayer) late and we
would hurry the servants to present the food (of suhoor) for fear that Fajr
(morning) would come upon us."

There are two struggles of the soul that the believer faces during
Ramadhan: the struggle by day with fasting and the struggle by night with
qiyam (night prayer). So whosoever combines these two and fulfils their
rights, then he is amongst the patient -- those who will "be given
their reward in full without any reckoning."

These ten days are the last part of the month and a person's actions
are based on his last ones. So perhaps, he will encounter the night of
Al-Qadr while standing in prayer for Allah and thus have all his past
sins forgiven.

Therefore, embarking on these last days means entering into the
profiting from righteous deeds in what remains of the month. From the
unfortunate matters is to see that some people excel in righteous actions, such
as prayer and recitation of the Qur'an, in the first part of the
month, but then signs of fatigue and weariness begin to show on them
afterwards, especially when the last ten days of Ramadhan come in. And this is
in spite of these last ten days possessing a greater standing than the
first ones. Thus, one must persevere in striving and struggling and
increase his worship when the end of the month draws near. And we must
keep in mind that a person's actions are based on his last ones.

(extracted from sisters-maqazine's bulletin)